The Asutifi District Assembly in the Brong Ahafo Region has taken delivery of a grader and a tipper truck valued at GH¢385,843.20 to help put in good condition feeder roads leading to food production centres and other areas in the district all year round.
Consequently, the assembly has decided to set up a committee to come out with guidelines governing operations of the equipment to ensure its sustainability.
The Asutifi District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Eric Addae, who announced this at the first ordinary meeting of the fourth session of the assembly held at Kenyasi, the district capital, said a token would be charged for the use of the equipment in order to generate some funds for its maintenance to extend their lifespan.
He said further that he had, on behalf of the assembly, submitted a proposal during his recent visit to the United States of America (USA) to the Chief Executive Officer of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, operators of the Ahafo Mine in the district, to donate to the assembly a bulldozer and a wheel loader for the improvement of the road network of the district.
“I am happy to inform you that the proposal has received the needed attention from Newmont and the assembly would hopefully take delivery of these equipment by the first quarter of 2010,” he said.
Mr Addae, in his address, announced that the assembly was in the process of preparing the 2010-2013 District Medium-Term Development Plan in accordance with Section 1 (3,4), 2 to 11 of the National Development Plan (System) Act 1994 (Act 480).
He, therefore, called on all stakeholders in the district to make an input.
He commended Newmont for its contribution to the development of the district, saying as a major stakeholder, its input would be required to enable the assembly to come out with a rich document that would stand the test of time.
Touching on the assembly’s internally generated funds (IGF), Mr Addae said the assembly did not perform badly, and that at the end of October 2009, the assembly had been able to generate GH¢560,514.29 out of the estimated local revenue target of GH¢582,160.00, representing 96.28 per cent of the expected revenue.
He, however, said one major problem the assembly continued to grapple with was the non-performance of the revenue staff, and that the chunk of the assembly’s revenue came from Stool Land Revenue.
In order to improve upon revenue mobilisation in 2010, Mr Addae said the assembly had adopted a number of strategies.
These include the setting up of targets for revenue collectors, capacity building, re-activation of the District Revenue Task Force, registration of all contractors operating in the district, re-valuation of properties in the district to facilitate imposition of realistic rates on properties and sensitisation of the public to the need to honour their tax obligations.
The DCE for Asutifi announced that the assembly received a total of GH¢657,549.94 as its share of the District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DAFC) for the first and second quarters of the past year.
Out of the figure, he said, only GH¢269,127.80 was actually received by the assembly.
The remaining amount was disbursed by the Administrator of Common Fund on behalf of the assembly,
on expenditures such as the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), National Association of Local Government (NALAG) dues, waste management, fumigation and the procurement of a tipper truck and grader by the assembly.
He commended the assembly members for burying their differences and coming together to work for the progress of the district.
“Let me note that I have so far enjoyed a wonderful working relationship with both assembly members and staff of the assembly, and hope that your co-operation and collaborative spirit would be sustained as we enter the new year and see us executing more development programmes to better the lives of the people in the district,” he stated.
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